Non-Existent Island Pops Up On Google Maps

There are hundreds of thousands of uninhabited islands on our planet. The South Pacific island of Sandy isn't one of them...

That's not because there are people secretly living on the sixty-square-mile land mass. It's because Sandy, despite appearing on Google maps, doesn't actually exist.

Researchers from the University of Sydney became confused when Sandy popped up on Google but wasn't on any navigational maps. So, they got in a boat and headed for Sandy's coordinates, which are between Australia and New Caledonia. When they arrived they found nothing but the deep blue sea.

"It's on Google Earth and other maps so we went to check and there was no island. We're really puzzled. It's quite bizarre," said lead researcher Maria Seton, a geologist. "How did it find its way onto the maps? We just don't know, but we plan to follow up and find out."

"The world is a constantly changing place, and keeping on top of these changes is a never-ending endeavor," was the rather vague explanation for the phantom island from Google Maps project manager Nabil Naghdy.